Thursday, May 28, 2015

I love a good thrift store. There is something so satisfying about being able to walk in, spot an item that is unique or unusual, or to be able to find items that you usually buy anyway at a discounted price. Today, I'm sharing a recent thrift store haul (you really never know what you are going to find), and some tips on what to look for while you are browsing flea markets and thrift shops.

Today's Thrift Shopping Tips:
*Look for hardback books to use in vignettes for decorating. Choose books that are in a specific color to go along with your color scheme, or on a particular subject. Also, thrift stores are a great place to score books for summer reading. I always look for hardback classics, too!
*Thrift stores are great places to find unique lamp bases. Painting the base is an easy way to update. Also, don't be afraid to re-wire a lamp. They sell kits at hardware stores like Lowe's and it's an easy process.
*Don't be afraid to paint an item! If it's the perfect shape, go for it!
*A penny saved is a penny earned! Filter the money you save shopping at thrift stores and flea markets into other areas of your budget.

Do you frequent flea markets or thrift stores? What are some of your favorite things to look for when shopping there?

Saturday, May 23, 2015

What better time to make a patriotic wreath than for Memorial Day? This easy DIY project can be done in little time and DIYers from the novice to the expert can tackle this with ease. Finish this project for Memorial Day and then you will have it on hand to use for Independence Day as well!﻿

What you will need:

*wire wreath form

*burlap ribbon, fabric, ribbon, and pipe cleaners

*can-do attitude

I found this wire wreath form at Wal-Mart for under $4. It's the perfect form for making this rag wreath.

Got fabric scraps that you have been wanting to use? This is the perfect project to use them in! Take your fabric and tear into strips about an inch wide and around eight inches long. You can also cut grosgrain or satin ribbon for this project if you want.

Colored burlap ribbon works great for this project! Cut into sections around eight inches long, making sure to cut the ends at an angle for a finished look.

Start by adding the burlap or bulky pieces first. Gather your burlap in the center, then affix to the wire frame with a pipe cleaner.

You can tuck the ends of the pipe cleaners under to keep them from sticking up and poking someone. Once you start filling in your wreath, these won't show.

Next, you'll fill in around the entire wreath with your larger and bulkier ribbons and fabrics. Once those pieces are equally distributed around the wreath, start adding your smaller fabric strips. Make sure to evenly distribute your color and the different textures throughout the entire wreath. Be sure to hold up to make sure that you fill any gaps that may be showing. Then, you'll be ready to hang your beautiful, patriotic rag wreath.

I hope everyone has a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend! Thanks to all those who have sacrificed their lives in service to our great country! God bless!

Friday, May 22, 2015

This year for my girls' birthday, I did a really small, low-key brunch/lunch. Their birthdays being exactly a month apart to the day, I decided to do this right in between both birthdays. Also, so that each would get their own special time, I did this twice in one day; once at 10:00am, then I had a thirty minute reset time to get ready for the next at noon. I only invited three of their friends to keep it small and more intimate for them. I don't usually do large birthday parties, unless it's a milestone birthday. And in the last two or three years, we've opted to take a trip in lieu of any party at all. I kind of decided to do this on a whim, and kept it a secret until the morning of the little get-together.

A few days ago, I posted about my woodland bohemian party inspiration, and this is what it was for. I wanted to keep it low-key and practical, but pretty as well. The only kicker was the fact that in order to keep it a secret, I stayed up really late after my kiddos went to bed in order to get some of the decorating done, and also to make the flower crowns for each girl (which ended up taking a lot longer than I had anticipated). I had envisioned a pretty outdoor scene, nestled under a tree, complete with ferns and flowers and wood and whimsy. So, tying fabric to a tree at 2:30am in the dark while the coyotes were howling in the field behind my house wasn't exactly the highlight of my day. I hurriedly finished outside and scampered inside as quickly as I could. My overactive imagination had yellow eyes glowing in the murky darkness, a rabid coyote waiting to ambush me at any second. I ended up only getting about two hours of sleep (and that's rounding up) before I had to get up to get ready for the day. (I had also scheduled a photographer to come and take our yearly portraits about an hour before the party started, so I had to have my girls dressed and ready and all of the food ready to go extra early.)

I used a lot of moss, ferns, and flowers to decorate the table. The accent colors I used were a light blush pink and coral. The "plate chargers" were a sheet of moss.

I LOVE this picture that my friend, Jan, snapped of my youngest daughter's brunch time. They were holding hands and saying the blessing. So sweet!

I set up all of the food on an outdoor table my hubby built me a few years ago. I flanked it with wood and ferns.

This beautiful cake was called a Chantilly Cake from Publix bakery. It was as delicious as it was pretty!

I served fruit, cheeses, lots of little cookies and sweets, and finger sandwiches.

So here's where my ideal little outdoor brunch that had been swimming in my head drowned and took all of what I had envisioned with it. It got really windy. It started to sprinkle. We were having issues keeping the food covered and the flies away. So, I made the decision to move the party inside. Not what I had in mind, but I was going to make it work. Then, when we got inside, this happened......

.......The pretty Chantilly cake went flying of the cake plate that was in my hands and splattered on the floor. We had already cut pieces of cake for these girls, but it was supposed to be for the next little gathering, too. I didn't cry. I didn't pitch a hissy-fit. I really only felt like smacking myself in the forehead and saying, "Doh!" just like Homer Simpson. Oh, well. We would just have to make due with what we had for the next set of girls.

In spite of the fact that the party ended up being so far from what I had envisioned, I think they had a good time. Honestly, I think if I had not decorated, only had pizza, cake, and chips served on white paper plates, they would've had as much fun, if not more.

For my oldest daughter, we just set everything up in the dining room. It wasn't raining, but at this point, I didn't want to fight the flies or wind.

After it was all said and done, the girls all had a great time. My girls were surprised and were so happy to celebrate their birthdays, even though it was just a small little gathering. Have you ever had a party that didn't turn out exactly as you had planned, but ended up working out anyway? I guess my lesson of the day was to not stress over things out of my control, and make the most of every situation. That's sometimes hard for my perfectionistic personality tendencies, but I'm learning.
﻿

Monday, May 18, 2015

It took a couple of days longer than I anticipated, but we finally got the new front door finished up.(If you missed it, you can see Part 1 HERE). It ended up being a little more involved than I thought it would be. We had to trim out the door opening a bit to fit the new door in. We also had lots of nail holes to fill, sand, and paint, as well as having to tackle the trim inside and outside around the new door.

I love the new door handle. It is so pretty and works well with the blue door. It gives it a good contrast.

When I painted our old door this blue color, I had debated whether or not to paint the side windows to give the entrance more of a pop of color, but I never did. This time, I decided to go for it. At the end of the day, it's just paint and if we decide we hate it, I can always paint it back white. For now, I actually like the extra oomph that it gives our front entry and plan to leave it as is. The hubs wasn't quite as convinced as I was but if decides he can't stand it, I'll paint it back.

Our entry has a more finished look now that the new door is in, but it still feels a little blah to me. I'm not sure if it's the planters or what. Maybe I need to use these planters on the back patio and get a pair that are a little larger for this area. I'm not sure yet. I can't quite put my finger on what is bothering me about it all.

While I was in my painting frenzy, I decided to go ahead and paint our garage door the same color as the front door. I realized while painting it, that it had NEVER been painted before. Like never. When the previous owners put it in, they just left it in the primed state it came in. I can't tell you how much better it looks now, or how much better it makes me feel to see that pop of color amidst the sea of white in the garage. Getting that one project done also inspired me to get the garaged cleaned out and organized.

The garage door also got a vinyl decal from Leen the Graphics Queen. I love the happy little greeting in that cute font.

I'm so glad I went with the blue on the front door. It definitely packs more punch than the white door did. Three years after buying our home, we finally have a functional and pretty front door! I'm so used to using the side door, that I've caught myself using it when I could've used the front door to make it quicker. I guess we'll get used to it soon!

I am so late getting this posted. The past week and a half have been uber busy and last week, I could not get my video to upload to Youtube. I finally got it to upload today. (It literally took about seven hours to upload a ten minute video. I gotta figure that junk out.)

Anyway, including this last video diary entry, I have three videos about my experience with Purium. If you haven't checked them out, be sure to do so. ( And subscribe to my channel while you're there. Thanks in advance!) My videos go a little more in-depth that what I will in this blog post.

Overall, I am very pleased with Purium and the weight and inches I lost in just ten days. I also felt amazing once I got past the first couple of days (which are rough because of detoxing and caffeine withdrawals).

I lost 6.8lbs and 7 and a quarter inches overall in just ten days!

For those of you who are looking for something for weight loss past the ten days of the initial challenge or don't want to do the challenge and want to just order some individual products, here are the other meal options available as explained in this video. (I ordered the chocolate whole food meal and the pre-meal capsules).

Like I said, I am very pleased with Purium and am continuing on with the weight loss phase post-challenge. lf you'd like more information and about Purium and what products they have available click HERE (This is my referral link.) If you are a first time customer, you can get $50 off by entering code: AmandaHendeson I'm not going to be actively trying to sell Purium, I just wanted to pass along the $50 savings in case anyone wanted to try Purium. It's great to be able to recommend something that actually works.

Have any of you tried Purium before? I'd love to hear about your experience with it! Leave a comment below!

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

We've now officially been in our home for three years and have FINALLY gotten around to an item that's been on our to-do list since day one. Yeah, I painted it and pretty much "put lipstick on a pig" just to hold us over until we replaced the door. That quick fix served us well, but it took us a lot longer to get to this project than we anticipated. That's life.

We could not wait any longer to fix our front door problem! I drew the line when our dog, Molly, decided she liked to scratch the front door where there was some damage. "Let me in, let me in!" Poor Molly.

Molly's favorite place to scratch.

Out with the old.....

.....and in with the new!

Buh-bye, old broken door! Hello, new, more durable door!

We decided to go with this door from Lowe's. It has a cute little window that would allow for more light in the foyer. Yay! It's also fiberglass and should be a lot more durable in the long run that just a wood door.

As far as the hardware for the front door, we went with oil-rubbed bronze. The one we chose looks almost exactly like this one, but I couldn't find the exact one we bought on the Lowe's website so I could show you, but you get the picture. The one we bought, we found at the store and it was a bit more inexpensive than this one.

So now, the door is in but I have to finish painting it (no, it isn't staying white). My hubby spent this morning filling in nail and screw holes that are in the trim and then I have to lightly sand and paint it on the inside and outside. I also have some places to touch up on the foyer walls around the door. I'm going to be working on it today and will hopefully get it all done and will be able to share the finished product with you by the first of next week. Be sure to check back!

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A PLACE WHERE I SHARE TUTORIALS AND INSPIRATION FOR ALL THINGS DIY, DECORATING, ENTERTAINING, AND GETTING HEALTHY. STICK AROUND AS I CULTIVATE MY PASSION FOR DESIGN AND SEEK TO CREATE A WELCOMING HOME.